Ando Ando Ando Mother-of-Pearl Sakura Dial

On the back of the success of the A-1 Automatic Watch and A-1 Mod Case, Japanese designer Yu Ando of AndoAndoAndo brings you his latest design - the Mother-of-Pearl Sakura Dial.

A 6-petal sakura? Yes there is indeed such a species.

The Space Sakura (宇宙桜, read as そらざくら / Sora-zakura) is a name that is used for cherry blossom trees that grew out of the seeds that went into to space on the Space Shuttle Endeavour OV-105 in 2008, and and stayed at the ISS 's Japanese Experiment Module "Kibō" (meaning "hope") for 8 months.

There were 14 different types of blossoms from 14 different locations in Japan, but the one in particular, the one came from a very old cherry blossom tree (Cerasus itosakura) in Yamanashi prefecture's Jissou temple. This cherry blossom tree is the very first natural monument designated by Japan during the Taishō era (1912 to 1926), and said to be 2000 years old. Its name is 山高神代桜 (Yamadaka Jindai-zakura), and its descendant that traveled to space is planted in the same temple is named 宇宙神代桜 (Uchuu Jindai-zakura), adding the 宇宙 (Uchuu / space).

These dials measure 28.5mm in diameter and are available with a metallic finish in silver or gold.

Each dial also comes with dial feet for the 3:00 and 3:45 crown position.